After answering Shang's questions, the Sweeper and the Ancestral Mage continued talking.
The Sweeper was going through some important questions while warning the Ancestral Mage about things he would have to go through if he actually decided to join their organization.
The Ancestral Mage just kept nodding and dismissing the messages, saying that all of that was fine.
It seemed like he didn't have any particular aversions to doing things that required a colder mindset.
As long as he was getting paid, he didn't care.
"Alright, I need to contact my superior for anything further," the Sweeper said. "For safety's sake, I will do so outside your Spirit Sense's range."
"Sure," the Ancestral Mage said in boredom.
"Since you have the ability to hide from my senses," the Sweeper continued, "I need my colleague to verify that you stayed on your spot."
She lightly gestured to Shang.
"Yeah, yeah, just go," the Ancestral Mage said, waving the Sweeper's concerns away.
The Sweeper looked at Shang for a bit.
Then, she turned around and flew into the distance.
Now, Shang and the Ancestral Mage were alone.
Silence.
"So, why are you here?" the Ancestral Mage asked.
"Secret," Shang answered.
Silence.
"Why do you not have eyes?"
"Secret."
Silence.
"I see a lot of Darkness and Light Mana coming off of you. Are you more of a light kinda guy or more of a darkness sorta guy?"
"Secret."
Silence.
"Is your dream to commit genocide on all conversations people try to have with you?"
Silence.
The Ancestral Mage furrowed his brows in annoyance as he looked at Shang, who just kept facing a random direction.
"Why are you- wait, I don't need to ask. I already know the answer."
Silence.
"Can you at least tell me your name?"
"Secret."
"Oh, hello, Secret! Nice meeting you! My name's Mosuma!"
Silence.
"What brings you here, Secret?"
Silence.
And that's when the Sweeper returned.
She looked at Shang. "Did he leave while I was away?"
"No," Shang answered.
The Sweeper nodded and looked at the Ancestral Mage. "I've talked with my superior. It's unusual for an Ancestral Mage to ask for a job without knowing the name of our organization. Since you already know two important members of the organization, it is risky to just tell you which organization we belong to."
"Because of that, our identity has to remain a secret for now. At the moment, you do not know enough to make you a danger if you decide to decline the job, which means you can still leave. However, as soon as you know the organization we belong to, you will be forced to accept the position."
"Will you accept or decline?"
The Ancestral Mage furrowed his brows and fell into thought.
This was an unusual conundrum.
"I need some general information to make that decision. Stuff like payment, restrictions, duties, and so on," he said.
The Sweeper nodded and summoned a sheet of paper. "Here is the general information that you are allowed to know. You would be assuming the same job as me."
Mosuma looked at the sheet of paper for a bit.
Silence.
"The pay is really great," he said after a while. "I also don't see any issue with most other things."
"It's just the hidden identity that feels shady to me."
Mosuma continued thinking for a while longer.
"Does your organization have a Mage Lord? You can answer that at least, right?" he asked.
"More than one," the Sweeper answered.
Mosuma hummed for a bit.
Then, he nodded.
"Alright, I accept!" he said with an arrogant smirk. "We will be colleagues in the future!"
"Okay," the Sweeper answered. "Then, follow me. I will bring you to the person that will officially hire you."
After that, the Sweeper continued flying towards the west.
Shang silently followed her.
Mosuma's expression turned to disappointment.
He had just joined their organization, but the two of them only looked at him like emotionless robots and showed no reaction to his enthusiasm.
That felt boring and depressing.
But in the end, he just followed the two of them.
About a day later, the three of them reached the border with the Reality Tear again, but Shang told the Sweeper that he didn't want to go through the Reality Tear again.
So, the three of them had to make a detour that took an entire day.
When Mosuma noticed that they had essentially wasted an entire day, he asked why they were moving in this way.
"Because the only way to get through that border directly is through a Reality Tear," the Sweeper said.
"Oh," Mosuma answered. "Yeah, I get it. I went through one once, and I thought I was going crazy with boredom. Like, if you just had to wait on one spot, it wouldn't be so bad, but you actually need to keep moving. That makes it difficult to just zone out."
Mosuma kept talking about the Reality Tear he had gone through in the past while the Sweeper and Shang just kept ignoring him.
Eventually, the three of them entered the area where Shang's branch was located.
Of course, the area of Shang's territory was the combined area of about 15 gatherer families working together, and it was about 10,000 kilometers wide.
Even if the Sweeper and Mosuma knew that Shang's branch was somewhere here, they wouldn't be able to find it.
After entering the territory of Shang's branch, the Sweeper stopped and turned to Shang. "The mission is over," she said.
Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said.
Then, the Sweeper turned to Mosuma. "You stay here. Someone will come for you shortly."
Mosuma only shrugged.
And the Sweeper just left without saying anything else.
Shang had spent the last ten days or so with the Sweeper, but they had only been staff and customer.
They didn't even know each other's names.
Silence.
"So, Secret," Mosuma said. "What will you be doing now?"
But before Mosuma could finish asking his question, Shang already started flying towards the west.
Mosuma only raised an eyebrow when he saw Shang leaving without a word.
For just a couple of seconds, he waited in silence.
"You're Mosuma?"
At that moment, Mosuma's heart nearly burst out of his chest, and he jumped to the side.
Someone had appeared beside him without him noticing!
Surprisingly, it was a smaller woman with wavy blue hair.
"Eh, yes?" Mosuma answered.
Shang's Keeper, and the Territory Lord, nodded.
"Welcome to the Temple of Blood."
Mosuma blinked a couple of times.
"I should have known," he commented.
